Data’s Role in Stewardship For Church Tech Decision Makers

Data can often be surprising. Many of the new findings in our third annual State of Church Technology report prove that dynamic.

But sometimes, when I see a statistic pop up in a report, I nod my head and think, “Yeah, that makes sense.” Which is how I reacted to learning 45% of church decision makers and influencers don’t feel confident about making tech choices.

When ministry leaders are entrusted with the digital future of their ministry—and especially if they don’t have a thorough understanding of the constantly shifting church technology space—those leaders become hesitant to commit to technologies that could define the future of their community. I know this from experience; as Group Product Manager at Pushpay, my team and I feel that same trepidation every day.

Scouting the Road Ahead

As a leading technology provider for churches, Pushpay is constantly investigating and exploring the latest solutions that could benefit the ministries we serve. One of those up-and-coming tools is near-field connection (NFC) tags. This tech isn’t particularly new—if you’ve ever tapped your credit card to pay for groceries or petrol, you were using NFC technology.

Pushpay was approached by a supplier of NFC tags who thought they might be brilliant for churches. Their appeal made sense on paper. Scanning a tag on Sunday morning could send your congregants and guests to sermon notes, automatically donate a predetermined amount to a specific fund, or drive them to one of a dozen other use cases.

But just like the thousands of church leaders we surveyed for The State of Church Tech report, my team wasn’t confident about commiting straightaway. NFC tags were uncharted territory. There was no data, no statistics, no concrete results supporting this technology’s benefit for ministries. How could we feel confident promoting this solution and leading churches down this path?

Our team at Pushpay is uniquely privileged to have access to resources and the stalwart support of our leadership to explore potential channels for building the Church. In the case of NFC tags, we needed to generate data to make an informed decision. So we found a partner church willing to experiment with this new tech, funded their adoption efforts, and laid out clear parameters of what we’d consider a successful proof of concept.

Lessons Learned

Thinking back, I’m not sure I’ve ever laughed at a research finding. Who has, really? But one undeniable discovery during our NFC tag trial was just too much fun:

People don’t want to lean forward.

The church that trial-tested the tags has auditorium seating. This meant the seat in front of each attendee—where the tags were placed—was a foot in front of individuals and below their knees. Which meant potential donors couldn’t engage with the tags without leaning forward and stretching downward. Which, it turns out, no one wants to do. The tags essentially added an additional hurdle that slowed down Pushpay’s sub-ten-second giving experience.

Because of that discovery (and other less humorous reasons) their church saw no significant increase in giving during the NFC tag trial. As such, Pushpay decided not to pursue the technology further.

Once again, our team is very fortunate to have the resources to conduct experiments like this. But the majority of churches researching and considering implementing new tech solutions do not have that flexibility.

Let Data Be Your North Star

Every leadership role in every church carries the weight of responsibility, and technology choices are an especially heavy burden. The process of adopting new digital solutions requires commitment on several levels: You have to first believe in the tech yourself. Then you need to convince other leaders to believe. Only then is the change presented to the church as a whole, and should anything go sideways, fingers might get pointed at who’s to blame.

That’s why I’m not surprised by tech decision makers’ hesitation when confronted with pivoting their tech solutions. And yet, tech pivots are essential.

New tools capable of inspiring generosity and engagement for churches arrive constantly. Not adapting to the latest digital trends like QR codes or AI that are elevating ministries around the world lead to missed opportunities. The vision and mission that inspires your leadership team and community is too important to be unrealized because of hesitation to commit to the latest digital tools.

You know, I’ll never forget seeing Zig Ziglar live in Auckland when I was a teenager. One line stuck with me over the years: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

I believe church leaders must overcome their hesitancy to “start” with new tech, and the first stage of taking the leap with confidence is relying on data. The good news is, you don’t have to generate your own data through trial and error—that’s what Pushpay’s here for.

The State of Church Tech report, surveying over two-thousand leaders about which tech solutions they’re relying on to drive their churches, is a phenomenal resource to get you started. But even if you don’t find what you’re looking for in the results, know that our passionate international team isn’t promoting any tool we haven’t tested, gathered data on, and found is a proven boon for ministries.

Because of the trust placed in us by churches, it’s our team’s duty to take those risks on your behalf. Every day we lean forward with research and testing, exploring and discovering and developing the tools you can put your faith in to support your team, your community, and the Church as a whole.

Does your ministry have an idea you want to trial? Reach out to your Pushpay representative, and let’s see if we can explore those ideas together!